Saved by the Bell: Lane Cove’s Oldest Church rescued from development

Lane Cove’s first and oldest church’s fate was up in the air for around a decade, now it seems its former legacy will continue to live on through another church group.

A decade ago, Chatswood South Uniting Church was listed for sale. It was then re-listed for sale two years later in 2017, until its new owner, in 2020, submitted a Development Application to Lane Cove Council.

The DA requested the area surrounding the church – on the corner of the Pacific Highway and Mowbray Road Lane Cove  – be torn down and developed into 40 new apartments. The proposed ‘multi-dwelling housing development’ was set to be three stories tall with an underground carpark.

The proposal was withdrawn, and no further development applications were submitted until last year, when its new owners, the Evangelical Free Church of Australia, proposed a DA plan on 12 December.

The DA submitted to Lane Cove Council is a far cry from the original request, only proposing minor internal and external renovations and some landscaping refurbishments.

For the most part, long-time Lane Cove residents are pleased by this outcome, with many sharing their bitter and sweet memories of the long-standing Methodist church on the ITC Lane Cove Chat page.

“Not married there but I met my partner there when we were 14 at a church youth group run between Chatswood South and Willoughby Uniting Church back when it was a functioning church,” Brigid Daly commented on an ITC post on the page.

“I know a little girl whose burial service was conducted there. I’m so glad it has been saved. It holds some very precious memories for me,” Pauline Haycraft shared.

“Remember as a 10-year-old, my dad taking me to watch the first Redax Trial out front of the Church. Great memories each time I go past, pleased it to be saved,” Brian Paxton reminisced.

With so many memories on offer, we decided to chat with some of the locals who tied the knot at the church so many years ago.

Stories of Wedding Bells from Lane Cove

Maureen and Michael 

The pair were married 43 years ago in 1982 at the Chatswood South Uniting Church. Last week they sat side by side, holding each other’s hands on their couch reflecting on their wedding day with ITC.

Surrounded by pictures of their children and children’s children, the couple had since built quite the life with one another. Maureen described their wedding day as a beautiful one, comparing the current sunny weather in similar taste.

Both seemed very pleased the church was set to be left to its original devices.

“We’re very happy about it. I certainly remember, before we were married, driving past that church and thinking, what an iconic building it was… so we decided to be married there.”

The wedding was as lovely as it was humble, describing a simple day followed by a simple reception at the North Sydney Hotel – which, unlike the church, was not spared of demolition for modern construction. The only hiccup the two could think of was when the minister himself mistakenly stuttered on his words which could’ve been mistaken for himself having second thoughts on behalf of the groom.

“He stumbled on, will you take this w-w-w-w-woman,” Maureen shared as the two chuckled.

Even today Maureen and Michael say they still drive and point to the church where they were wed – with one of their adult children walking into the room after the interview to confirm this, his eyes broadcasting signs of a repeated incident.

“We’re very happy with how things have turned out,” Maureen reflected.

“We would drive past the church, and I used to always tell the kids, that’s where we were married… And now we do it with the grandkids, don’t we?” Maureen turned to Michael who nodded in agreement, “We do point that church out always, so it does have a soft spot for us. It has a place in our hearts.”

Kerrie and Graham

Kerrie and Graham were married at the Chatswood Uniting Church in 1981, although the day went according to plan, the anniversary remains a bittersweet memory for the bride as it happens to fall on her late mother’s birthday.

This special date also happened to be on the 25th of April, ANZAC Day. A time of remembering for some and a day of pub antics for others. Wedding guests who marked their calendar for the latter were begrudged of the clash but made do.

Kerrie and Graham were not locals, or really churchgoers, but they wanted a ‘pretty’ chapel for their big day, nonetheless, they found one in Lane Cove.

“I really wanted a pretty church, and when I saw it, I fell in love with it. When I went inside and saw the rose, beautiful stained glass window, I was just even more in love with it. So it had to be the church,” Kerrie told ITC.

The minister also had his hand in charming the pair showing his indifference to their religion, only caring if the now still-married couple wanted to be exactly that.

“The Minister, he was delightful, because when we were filling out our forms weeks prior to the wedding, we said, do you want to know what religion we are? And he said, No, I don’t care if you’re, Jewish, Catholic or callithumpian. I just want to know that you want to be married,” Kerrie laughed.

The Church had such an impact on them that when they discovered they were no longer able to marry on their preferred date, they settled on the aforementioned.

The couple were married at 4 pm on a Saturday, “a really nice afternoon.” The reception was held at Jenkins Hall at Lane Cove National Park, with a great live band and catering organised, a credit to Kerrie’s career as a function organiser.

Unfortunately, no one knew Kerrie’s mother would unexpectedly pass away three months after the wedding. But, she is grateful to always have that memory of her in full health on her special day.

Kate and Bill

Unlike the other stories, Kate and Bill’s holy matrimony at Chatswood South Uniting Church wasn’t originally sought out by the building’s charming Victorian infrastructure, but rather out of desperation.

The couple had been refused to be married by multiple Catholic churches due to Bill’s previous marriage – much like leg warmers, or smoking on an airplane, a religious institution’s strong disdain for divorce has seemingly gone along with the 80s.

Ironically, the longest-standing church in Lane Cove (and the oldest remaining Methodist church on Sydney’s North Shore) had modernist values and agreed to marry the couple in April 1980. And despite it not being their first choice, the pair could not deny the building’s beauty nor imagine a choice outside the one they reached.

“I’ve never regretted not being able to be married anywhere else. I’ve always been grateful to be married in that Church,” Kate retold ITC at a cafe not far from where she was hitched.

“That’s a beautiful church, stained glass window, you name it. It’s just magical. The atmosphere in the church is touching, holy, almost.”

Bill did however vouch for some “crazy” music, in particular a song called A Whiter Shade of Pale by PROCOL HARUM, but even the forward-thinking minister had his limits, so the graceful sounds of the classic church organ were appropriately offered in compromise.

After the bells rang, the newlyweds had a “lovely quiet reception” and then a honeymoon in a then untouched Penang. The birth of their eldest daughter soon followed and they once again visited the same church for her baptism.

Kate and Bill have been married for 45 years next month. They were planning on travelling the world after retirement; but life had other plans as Bill developed a rare neurological condition called cortical dysarthria, making Kate his primary carer.

“Someone said to me, that’s when you take your wedding vows very seriously. He’s so grateful. And luckily, he’s cognitively 100 per cent so he understands what’s going on, it’s just that he’s terribly disabled.”

Although life threw the couple one hell of a curveball, their love has transcended the hardship as they continue to love each other in sickness and in health, an opportunity that only the Chatswood South Uniting Church at the time would provide.

NSW Heritage Register

The beautiful church is on the NSW Heritage Register.

It’s considered to be of significance as it is a wonderful example of a rural church, graveyard and landscaped grounds indicative of the early rural settlement of Lane Cove in the 1870’s.

It is the oldest remaining (the third built) Methodist church on Sydney’s North Shore, and the first church to be built in Lane Cove.

The graveyard contains the remains of early pioneer families such as the Forsythe, Bryson and French families).

It is also of aesthetic significance as a landmark on the Pacific Highway.  It will have to be included in the developer’s plans.